The Orioles need wins in order to avoid selling at the trade deadline.
Their frustrations this season have spilled into the no-hit zone.
Jacob deGrom was the latest starter to flummox them, retiring the first 18 batters tonight before Jackson Holliday’s leadoff walk in the seventh. Colton Cowser let the dugout exhale with a ground ball single leading off the eighth, and deGrom came out of the game.
The Rangers gave him a seven-run lead, which is like gift vouchers for a billionaire. Don’t need ‘em.
The Orioles managed only one hit and were shut out for the eighth time in a 7-0 loss before an announced Pride Night crowd of 22,828 at Camden Yards.
Two straight losses in the series and four in the last five games dropped the Orioles to 34-46. They're 3-10 in rubber games.
The Yankees’ Clarke Schmidt held the Orioles hitless for seven innings on Saturday and Rangers left-hander Jacob Latz did it for six last night. deGrom is a two-time Cy Young Award winner who tossed a complete-game one-hitter in Philadelphia in 2016 and held the Cardinals to one hit in eight innings a year earlier. His ERA is down to 2.08 in 16 outings.
Ryan O’Hearn walked with two outs in the seventh to earn deGrom a mound visit, but Gary Sánchez grounded into a force. Cowser punched a 98.9 mph fastball on a 1-1 count through the right side of the infield in the eighth and received an ovation from a crowd that would rather skip the history lesson.
Leadoff hitters keep rescuing the Orioles – Sánchez on Saturday, Ramón Laureano last night and Holliday and Cowser tonight.
Rookie Brandon Young was charged with four runs and five hits in four-plus innings in his third major league start. Interim manager Tony Mansolino removed him after 61 pitches.
What’s next for Young is part of the puzzle. The Orioles have six starters and seven relievers, but that setup isn’t sustainable. And off-days Thursday, July 3 and July 7 allow the club to tweak the rotation.
Young could be optioned again or sent to the bullpen for bulk relief. Cade Povich is eligible to return on Tuesday but will need a rehab assignment.
The starters for the weekend Rays series are confirmed as Tomoyuki Sugano, Zach Eflin and Dean Kremer. Trevor Rogers and Charlie Morton would start next week in Texas. The Orioles want to give Sugano extra rest when possible to mimic his schedule in Japan.
Scott Blewett replaced Young and let an inherited runner score and two of his own for a 6-0 Rangers lead. Corey Seager and Marcus Semien had RBI singles. Former Orioles minor league catcher Jonah Heim homered onto the flag court in the sixth. The Rangers weren’t in a hurry to get deGrom out of the dugout.
Young fell behind 2-0 to Josh Jung in the second and allowed a run-scoring single on a 94.5 mph fastball. A clean, 10-pitch first inning was followed by 24 pitches in the second and included Semien’s leadoff double and Heim’s two-out double.
The Rangers were retired in order on 11 pitches in the third, with Seager striking out on a changeup to end the frame, and Young got two outs on two pitches in the fourth before Evan Carter singled on the first pitch and Jung drove an 0-2 changeup into the seats in right field.
Eight-pitch innings usually go better than that.
Left fielder Alejandro Osuna made a leaping catch at the fence to rob Holliday in the third, a 365-foot out that was by far the closest that the Orioles came to a baserunner before the eighth. deGrom opened the fifth with a pair of strikeouts and fielded Cowser’s slow roller.
His night ended with no runs, one hit, two walks and seven strikeouts over 89 pitches. The Orioles ended up inside another quiet clubhouse.
* Down on the farm, Jorge Mateo appeared in his first injury rehab game with Triple-A Norfolk and hit a two-run homer in the third inning. He went 1-for-3.